Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

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All Rise...

Judge Ryan Keefer had some traveling pants, but the Borax mules quickly took care of that problem.

The Charge

"These aren't just jeans. They make things happen."

Opening Statement

A pair of pants fits four different young women, and they see it as a sign.
They decide to use the pants as a way to stay in touch as they are about to go
their separate ways for the summer. Featuring some of the more recognizable
young actresses going today, is Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants worth
the ride, or does it fall flat on its seat?

Facts of the Case

Based on the novel by Ann Brashares, a rather quiet girl named Lena (Alexis
Bledel, Gilmore Girls), a gloomy cynic named Tibby (Amber Tamblyn,
Joan of Arcadia), a barbie doll named Bridget (Blake Lively) and Latina
Carmen (America Ferrera, Lords of
Dogtown) find a pair of jeans that fits each of their differing body types.
The girls' mothers' met before the girls were born, and they have stayed
friends, and this magical piece of clothing is something they decide to keep as
the common thread among each other. Even while Lena goes to Greece to visit her
grandmother, and Bridget goes to Mexico to attend soccer camp (she's quite the
star), and Carmen visits her father in South Carolina. Tibby stays home and
works at a store that is not supposed to resemble Wal-Mart, seriously. She also
finds time to record a documentary about the people within her town. And what
the girls realize is not only do the pants bring new people into their lives,
it's the outlook that those people bring into the girls' lives that make them
value the pants as much as they do.

Directed by veteran TV director Ken Kwapis (The Bernie Mac Show),
someone who would seem to have as much in tune with the pubescent female sect as
I do, the film carries itself surprisingly well. The film has its chuckles, and
even has some tears in it. It's glossy without being too sugary sweet, and
appeals to a wide variety on both sides of the gender fence. It may wrap things
up in a neat, tidy package, but it's harmless fun.

The Evidence

In not having too much idea of how to approach viewing a film better suited
for the Judy Blume crowd, the expectations I had for Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants were a little low. And despite some opinions from the target
demographic (Jessica, my twelve-year old sister-in-law, said it's "nothing
like the book"), the film was very enjoyable from start to end. The
performances that Bledel and Ferrera turn in are good, and Tamblyn's is
excellent. She's the one that gets the life-changing event, and seeing how her
friend Bailey (Jenna Boyd, The Missing)
touches her life is something to see, especially in how she interacts with her
friends afterwards. Plus the supporting adult cast is pretty capable in the few
scenes they have. As Carmen's Dad Al, Bradley Whitford is soft spoken and is
more than willing to let the girls have the spotlight from an acting standpoint.
It's a departure from his aggressive performance as Josh on The West
Wing. His role as the somewhat dismissive father, about to marry another
woman (Nancy Travis, Internal Affairs) in South Carolina is OK, but the
disappointing thing is that Travis seems a little bit wasted in her role.
Carmen's mother (Rachel Ticotin, Total
Recall) does her usual good job, and as Bailey, Boyd does a great job for
someone so young. Everyone does so well in a project of modest expectations,
that kind of spirit comes through when you watch the film.

Warner puts some supplemental material on the disc which should satisfy fans
of the film. There's a brief look at the camaraderie the girls shared on set,
and a conversation with Brashares on her inspiration for the book and the
reasons for its success. She also shares some details about what goes on in the
two subsequent books, and says that a fourth book is in the works for fans of
her work. There are eight minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary by
Kwapis, who provides very good explanations of why the scenes were excised. The
documentary that Tibby is trying to shoot is included in "rough cut"
form, but some of it will be familiar to those who watched the film. The
lengthiest extra is a video commentary with the four girls, and you get to watch
them joke and fool around while watching some scenes from the film, with the
exception of Lively, who couldn't attend, except by phone. Granted, any
feature-length commentary probably would have strayed off-topic in no time, but
it would have been a nice inclusion.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Some more of the supplemental content could have been focused on the cast or
on the book itself, but considering the target market of the film and video,
Warner is looking OK in this area. For the film, there's a reconciliation that
involves someone which seemed like a mild jump to accept, but it's a forgivable
sin.

Closing Statement

Quite a pleasant film, and one that should live on video for awhile, as the
themes of friendship, love and life are great growing of age concepts that
everyone can relate to. And what makes it work is that it transcends teen films
to some degree, and it's good for all ages.

The Verdict

The court finds in favor of the cast and crew of the Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants, and hopes that the second and third summers of the
sisterhood are brought to celluloid as well.